Apple has reportedly tapped a highly regarded senior executive who helped bring to market many of Apple’s signature products to oversee its automobile project. Bob Mansfield, who stepped back from a day-to-day role at Apple a few years ago, was the leader of the hardware development of products including the MacBook Air laptop computer, the iMac desktop computer, and the iPad tablet.

Apple now has Mr. Mansfield running the company’s secret autonomous, electric-vehicle initiative, code-named Project Titan, according to unnamed sources cited by the WSJ.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

The car project is one of Apple’s long-term projects aimed at driving future growth. Apple CEO Tim Cook has predicted that "there will be a massive change in the industry" as software and autonomous driving become more important.

The company has never acknowledged publicly that it is working on a car, but has reportedly many employees working on its car-related project. It has hired a slew of veterans from the automobile industry as well as experts in battery technology and autonomous driving.